Audience research: Focus Group

For the next part of my research, I created a questionnaire to survey a focus group of some members of both my primary and secondary audience.

Primary Audience

1. Melody Hurlock

• Age: 17
• Occupation: Student
• How much do you use social media? All the time
• What are some of your interests? Watching films, listening to 50s/60s music
• How often do you watch films? Every other day
• Which genres of films do you like to watch? Action, Comedy, Coming-of-age, Drama, Hybrid genre
• What are some of your favourite films? Stand By Me, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, But I'm A Cheerleader, Dogfight
• Why do you normally watch films? Based on recommendations or popularity/ escapism/ interest in the genre or subject or plot/ for the cast/ because my family or friends want to watch it
• How often do you go to the cinema? Once a month
• What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 8
• What is the last film you watched at home? Rocky V
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 7
• Do you watch interviews behind-the-scenes/ clips/ extra content of films? Yes
• What do you use to read about films? Reviews on Letterboxd, social media

2. Summer Etherington 

• Age: 17
• Occupation: Student/ part-time worker
• How much do you use social media? All the time
• What are some of your interests? Watching films/ shows, playing sport, listening to music
• How often do you watch films? Every few days
• Which genres of films do you like to watch? Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Coming-of-age, Fantasy, Musical, Romance
• What are some of your favourite films? Tangled, 10 Things I Hate About You, Thor Ragnarok, Spider-Man: No Way Home
• Why do you normally watch films? Based on recommendations or popularity/ escapism/ interest in the genre or subject or plot/ for the cast/ because my family or friends want to watch it
• How often do you go to the cinema? 2-3 times a month
• What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 9
• What is the last film you watched at home? The Greatest Showman
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 9
• Do you watch interviews behind-the-scenes/ clips/ extra content of films? Yes
• What do you use to read about films? Tiktok videos and reviews, Instagram videos and Snapchat stories that pop up under friends' stories

3. Georgia Burgess

• Age: 17
• Occupation: Student
• How much do you use social media? Every day
• What are some of your interests? Film, French and books
• How often do you watch films? Every few days
• Which genres of films do you like to watch? Action, Crime, Historical, Thriller, Western
• What are some of your favourite films? Inglorious Basterds, Apocalypto
• Why do you normally watch films? Escapism/ for the director
• How often do you go to the cinema? Once a month
• What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Babylon
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 7
• What is the last film you watched at home? Nope
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 8
• Do you watch interviews behind-the-scenes/ clips/ extra content of films? Yes
• What do you use to read about films? Social media, film critics online 

4. Phoebe Coutts

• Age: 17
• Occupation: Student/ team member at Domino's 
• How much do you use social media? All the time
• What are some of your interests? Crystals, listening to Lana del Rey and the Weeknd, fashion, food
• How often do you watch films? Once a week
• Which genres of films do you like to watch? Action, Comedy, Coming-of-age, Horror, Thriller
• What are some of your favourite films? Nobody, Annabelle Comes Home, Ouija Origin of Evil, Fear Street
• Why do you normally watch films? Interest in the genre or subject or plot/ because my family or friends want to watch it
• How often do you go to the cinema? Every few months
• What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Smile 
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 6
• What is the last film you watched at home? Nobody
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 10
• Do you watch interviews behind-the-scenes/ clips/ extra content of films? Yes
• What do you use to read about films? Reviews on social media, general Internet searches, some film magazines occasionally

Secondary Audience

1. Richard Pettit

• Age: 49
• Occupation: Translator
• How much do you use social media? Occasionally
• What are some of your interests? Foreign travel, foreign languages, literature, history 
• How often do you watch films? Every few days
• Which genres of films do you like to watch? Action, Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Western
• What are some of your favourite films? Return of the Jedi, Lawrence of Arabia, The Exorcist, Gladiator
• Why do you normally watch films? Interest in the genre/ subject/ plot
• How often do you go to the cinema? Once a month
• What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 6
• What is the last film you watched at home? The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 10
• Do you watch interviews behind-the-scenes/ clips/ extra content of films? Yes
• What do you use to read about films? Online newspapers, media magazines

2. Satomi Pettit

• Age: 48
• Occupation: Business Travel Consultant
• How much do you use social media? Occasionally
• What are some of your interests? Foreign languages, travel, gardening, cooking
• How often do you watch films? Twice a week
• Which genres of films do you like to watch? Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Sci-fi, Thriller
• What are some of your favourite films? Spirited Away, Life of Pi, Kite Runner, Return of the Jedi 
• Why do you normally watch films? Interest in genre, subject or plot/ because my family or friends want to watch it
• How often do you go to the cinema? Once a month
• What is the last film you watched at the cinema? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 6
• What is the last film you watched at home? The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• What would you rate this film out of 10? 8
• Do you watch interviews behind-the-scenes/ clips/ extra content of films? No
• What do you use to read about films? Online newspapers

Summary: 

After surveying this focus group, it is clear that those in both my primary and secondary audience regularly watch films both at home and to a smaller extent at the cinema. Common favourite genres include action, drama. coming-of-age, comedy and thriller, which provides me with some direction as to the genre/ aesthetic of my final products. However, those in my primary audience are much more active on social media, indicating that there should also be interactive social media links in my final products, given its wide reach to younger audences and how much it is used to inform younger people about films, plus its ability to market a given magazine or film.